For the next 2 weeks we are blessed to have the works of Maiko Iwata on our walls (and in front of our windows).

Sort of difficult to describe, she uses layer upon layer of color on washi (trad Japanese paper) then, using a knife she makes cuts in the paper digging up older layers to create quite intricate designs.

She then uses water colors and acrylic to flush out and augment her creations. She’s all over the place from idyllic scapes with flowers, deer and fish, to images of spinal cords and ligaments hanging and intertwining into infinity. It is some of the most intricate and delicate lines I have ever seen.

It’s definitely an odd mix of fantasy, reality and utopia…almost over the top pastels with worlds of lines depicting traditional Japanese art aesthetics- really very interesting.

Born in Tokyo in 1984 and a graphic designer by trade, she organizes art projects and events throughout Japan.

She describes her art as 0|1; the math being 0 = 1, 1= 0. A thought espoused by many sects of Buddhism meaning all is meaningless, yet meaning can be found in the smallest of existences.